A World without Shadows
by IAmToast24
Summary: Background and continuation on the season 1 episode 10 Alternate Universe. Clary and Jace have relationship problems, Simon and Izzy have trouble being honest with each other, and Alec and Magnus hesitantly get to know one another. Clace/Sizzy/Malec endgames
1. Filling the Void

Jace Lightwood is having an amazing day: his Java truck is making more profit than usual; his girlfriend is home from college; and, best of all, his hair is extra luscious and floppy, just the way he likes it. Everything seems to be perfectly in place for the most special night of his life: the night he will ask Clary Fray to marry him.

Of course, he knows they're pretty young to get married, as Clary is only a freshman in college and he's only about a year older than her. But he also knows that she's the only girl he has ever, and will ever, love. What does age matter when you've met your soulmate? And, Jace thinks as he finishes mixing a drink for a customer, he's sure that Clary is his soulmate. There's no one else in the world he can even imagine spending the rest of his life with.

He's just about to check on the ring again when Simon walks up to the truck and orders two coffees. He's so distracted, he just figures that Simon is getting one for Izzy. He completely forgets that Izzy and Alec have already gotten their daily lattes. So when Simon tells him that one for them is for Clary, he's surprised.

He's mostly delighted, of course, since he thought he wouldn't see her until tonight. But part of him is anxious and nervous, two emotions he rarely ever feels. Looking around, Jace sees that no one seems to be coming up to the truck, so he slides the break sign up and exits from the back door.

Even the sight of her back, silhouetted against the bright light of this perfect day, is enough to get his heart racing. Her hair especially drives him crazy, and he can't help but grin, reveling in the fact that she's his and his alone.

"Hey," he whispers, sneaking up from behind her. She starts, flipping her hair around to look at him. "Wanna get out of here?"

She blinks at him and says "sure" as he pulls her towards the front of the truck. She seems both confused and surprised as he pulls her into him, meeting his lips with hers. She gasps as he kisses her, like she always does. Her lips taste like cherries and coffee, her usual blend of sweet and strong. The taste is a drug, and he's glad to be addicted.

He pulls away, and, caught up in how much he loves her, declares, "I can't wait for tonight." Suddenly, she seems confused.

"For the party?" she asks. Jace just laughs and shakes his head, happy beyond belief.

"Just shut up and kiss me," he demands, and then she's putting her arms around him like she usually does, making the world disappear. He always wondered, growing up, if love really was like they described it in books and movies. _Surely,_ he'd thought, _it couldn't be._ But he had been wrong. Everytime he's with Clary, it's like the universe suddenly feels centered on them. As if time itself stands still and they're in a bubble of their own creation.

He kisses a trail down her neck towards her collarbone, since he knows that it drives her crazy. Clary is sighing in pleasure when suddenly she pushes him away.

"Stop," she says. "I'm sorry. I can't." Then she takes off, leaving Jace in her dust, completely confused and hurt.

"Clary!" he yells after her, but she's already long gone.

* * *

 _Jace Lightwood felt like something was missing. The feeling was constant, had been for a while now. Nothing could seem to fill the hole inside of him, no amount of partying, alcohol, or womanizing. These things would distract him for a while, but eventually, the void would come back, deeper and darker than ever._

 _As it was, Jace was about to start his junior year of highschool, and he had convinced Alec and Izzy to go out with him on their last night of freedom. Since Izzy had skipped out on their last excursion in order to seduce her nameless new suitor, it was her turn to choose the club._

" _Pandemonium?" Jace asked Izzy. "Are you sure?" Izzy nodded._

" _Meliorn said-"_

" _Oh, so this mystery man_ does _have a name?" Alec teased. Izzy rolled her eyes._

" _Do you want to get into the hottest underground club in the city or not?" she asked, an air of annoyance in her voice. Jace laughed._

" _Fine, we won't tease you about Meliorn anymore," he told her, fake sincerity lingering on his tongue. Jace reached in his pocket to grab his fake ID, but when he pulled his hand out, his keys went flying behind him. Alec and Izzy looked at him, silently asking him if he wanted help. He waved them off. "You guys go ahead. I'll catch up."_

" _Alright," Alec said. "Don't get into too much trouble." Jace nodded, his grin betraying his willingness to do just the opposite. So he stalked off into the dark alley to his left where his keys had flown. After a minute of searching, he found them, putting them back into his pocket and turning back onto the slightly less depressing street leading towards Pandemonium._

 _He was so focused on finding Alec and Izzy that he didn't notice the girl in his way until he had bumped into her shoulder. He turned to say sorry, but she was already spewing words at him._

" _Hey, watch where you're going," she demanded. Her voice was melodic yet sturdy, a combination that could be hard to pull off. But that wasn't the most striking thing about her. The girl's hair was the color of fire, and her skin was pale like delicate porcelain. She wore a simple black t-shirt that hugged her in all the right places, showing off the curves of her breasts and a small sliver of skin just above her hips, with a pair of torn skinny-jeans. Her green jacket hung off her shoulders casually, its color highlighting the glowing green of her eyes. Jace had seen beautiful girls, had even been with them, but this girl seemed more beautiful than all of them. It was something about the way her eyes held more fire than her hair that made her seem ethereal. He had never associated a girl with that word before._

" _I-I'm sorry," he said, stumbling over his words._

" _You should be," the girl declared, but her tone was more amused than anything. They stood there for a moment, looking into each other's eyes._

" _Clary!" a boy yelled from a van across the street. The girl turned away from Jace, her attention shifting entirely._

" _I'll be right over, Simon!" she yelled back, then she turned back to Jace. He wanted to say something, wanted to tell her his name or smooth talk her into a date, but nothing came out of his mouth. All of his usual tactics failed him._

" _Look where you're going next time," the girl, whose name seemed to be Clary, told him. Then she skipped across the street into the arms of the boy who called her name._ Simon. _His name on her lips was heavy, indicating that he meant a lot to her. The way she embraced him made Jace believe that they were more than just friends._

 _As they drove away, Jace realized that the hole in his chest had been momentarily lifted while he talked to Clary. Now that she was gone, the void seemed deeper than ever, its darkness almost swallowing him whole. Walking towards Pandemonium, Jace thought about the events that had just unfolded. He realized that he needed to see the girl again, needed to understand how she had filled the hole._

 _He would give anything to talk to Clary._


	2. Everything Has Changed

Isabelle Lightwood cannot believe that this is happening right now. It's just her luck that the one time she actually goes to kickboxing class, she gets nailed in the eye. And, of course, tonight is one of the most important parties of her life. Not only is her boss counting on her, but her boyfriend, who she loves very much, is performing his first big gig.

As she paces in her room, she flip flops back and forth between wanting to scream and wanting to cry. Of course this happens to her. She should have seen it coming: as soon as she's happy, life takes a swing at her. If she believed in Karma, she might be inclined to assume that she was some kind of serial killer in her last life.

"What's the emergency?" Clary asks, panting. She then sees Izzy's face. "Oh my God! What happened?"

"Kickboxing class," Izzy tells her. "I thought, why not? Quick class after work. And, boom! Home in time to see you."

Clary makes a face before uttering, "You got the _boom_ part right."

"Just help me!" Izzy exclaims. And so she does. Clary has become almost a sister to Isabelle, the kind of girlfriend she never imagined she could have. Before Clary, she had always felt more comfortable being friends with boys, a product of being the only daughter in a house full of brothers. Her closest friends had always been Jace and Alec; she'd never felt the need for anyone else.

When Clary barged into their lives, everything changed.

* * *

 _Izzy liked Meliorn. He wasn't the first guy she'd been with, but he was different from all the rest. He seemed mysterious and dangerous, qualities her former boyfriends had been lacking. To put it simply, Meliorn was the guy who would fulfill her bad boy phase._

 _And the greatest part about him: he could never break her heart. For that, Izzy would have to give him her heart, and she had promised herself a long time ago that she would never do that. This was around the time that her mother came home crying for weeks on end and her father didn't come home for a while. Maryse told everyone that he was away on a trip, but the truth slipped out one night in front of Isabelle, after her mother had had a few too many drinks._

 _Izzy never understood why her mother took him back after the affair. She assumed it had a lot to do with the kids. Even so, Izzy never forgot the lesson her mother's tears had taught her: love only ever ends in heartbreak._

 _So, she made sure that she never fell for guys she could love. Each time she felt an attraction to a guy, she would find something about him that she knew would drive her away eventually. Besides, Meliorn was hardly boyfriend material, and he knew it._

 _The first day of school her sophomore year, Izzy had already impressed every one of her AP teachers. She was sure that this year would be just as easy as the rest. Truth be told, Izzy was growing bored with school, and she knew that eventually she would grow bored with Meliorn. She sighed, resting against her desk. The bell rang, and she was glad to be done with the day._

" _Hey there," Meliorn said, coming up behind her as she put her books into her locker. He nuzzled her neck, some of his stubble tickling her there. She leaned into him, trying to push away her anxiety about the future. Part of why she was with Meliorn was because he helped her be in the moment, at least as much as she could manage to be. "Want to do something later?"_

 _She turned around and answered, "Sure, what do you have in mind?" with a sly grin. He grinned back, pulling her so close she could see her reflection in his pupils._

" _The usual," he responded. "Meet me at my place in an hour." Then he kissed her quickly and walked towards the front doors of the school, turning back only once to give her a wink. Isabelle leaned back against her closed locker, glad that her day would not be entirely boring._

 _An hour later, Izzy was making her way towards Meliorn's loft, which he lived in by himself. Though he was a still only senior in high school, his parents had decided that he was independent enough to have his own place. Meliorn always said it was just their way of getting rid of him so that they could host classy dinner parties with their childless friends. It didn't matter much to Izzy the reasons behind it, only that she reaped the benefits of hooking up with a guy whose parents wouldn't walk in on them._

 _On her way there, she spotted Jace hanging outside a cafe, somewhat creepily. For a second she thought about walking past him, ignoring the drama and trouble that would inevitably ensue, but the moment passed and, with a heavy sigh, she walked over to her adoptive brother. Meliorn could wait._

 _As she approached Jace, she assessed the situation. He was standing next to the window of a cafe shop, trying to look casual, but Izzy could see through it. His gaze was fixed on someone inside the shop, so she followed it until she saw two teenagers, a boy and a girl, sitting at a table, laughing and talking, their hands intertwined. Jace's face was solemn, as if he was grieving a loss. He didn't even notice her coming up beside him._

" _What are we looking at?" Izzy whispered teasingly. Jace jumped, startled, and then shook his head as if coming out of a trance._

" _Nothing," he replied, but Izzy knew he was lying. She looked in on the table again, watching the redheaded girl and her nerdy, but kind of attractive, friend. The girl was short and lovely, freckles lightly sprinkled on her face. Her eyes were breathtakingly green, and her smile lit up the face of the guy sitting with her. He wasn't too bad either, in a Peter Parker sort of way. Izzy had always had a thing for nerds since she was one herself._

" _It can't be nothing," Izzy said, encouraging Jace to admit the reason behind his lurking. She turned to face him, crossing her arms for good measure. He was still gazing at the pair, his eyes focused on the girl. He sighed._

" _Her name is Clary," he told Isabelle. "And I can't get her out of my head."_


	3. Never Fallen

**Thank you to all of my readers and followers. I apologize if this took some time; I've been super busy lately. Hope you like this next chapter in Alec's POV.**

* * *

Alec Lightwood has been planning this party for ages, and everything seems to be going to plan. The only thing missing: a cute guy on his arm. He will admit that that's mostly on him; being such a workaholic can definitely hinder one's love life. Sure, he's been on a few dates with guys in the city. He even had a short lived relationship with Mark, a friend that Clary introduced him to. But that ended in an unfortunate catastrophe involving his very possessive ex-boyfriend, Kieran. And though he's tried to find a man to call his own, the fact of the matter remains: Alec Lightwood has never actually been in love.

"I just don't know what to think or do," Jace is telling him, whining for the millionth time about Clary's freak out earlier that day. "She's not answering my texts and… you _know_ what's supposed to happen tonight." Alec rolls his eyes, but tries to be sympathetic.

"I'm sure it's nothing," he tells his brother. "She'll probably explain it tonight."

"Yeah but what if she doesn't even show up?" Alec shakes his head.

"She was with Izzy earlier, helping her get ready," he explains. "She's coming."

"Wait, she was with Izzy?" Jace asks, sounding hurt. "She'll talk to Izzy and not me?"Alec sighs.

"Calm down. Izzy just needed help with something."

"And I need help understanding why Clary ran out on me." There is an edge of despair in Jace's voice. Alec turns to face his brother fully. "I thought we were in a really good place."

"I'm sure that you'll work this out," he says soothingly. "You two always do." Jace shrugs, sadness and worry clouding his eyes.

"It just feels different this time," Jace admits. "What if she doesn't love me any more?" Alec scoffs, shaking his head slightly.

"Clary is so in love with you her body practically sings when you're near her," Alec assures him. "Don't start doubting that now." As Alec takes a sip of his drink, he spots Clary by the door. He turns to Jace and nudges him. "There she is, right on cue."

He expects his brother to leap into action in the charming way that only he, with his blonde locks and effortless grin, can pull off. But Jace just stands there for a moment, caught up in some intrinsic struggle. His brother looks scared in a way that Alec has never seen before, and he wonders what that must be like, to love someone so much that they become the center of your world. To need someone in such a way that you wouldn't know how to function properly without them. He himself has never felt that kind of intensity, that kind of internal chaos. But he knows that Jace felt it from the moment he met Clary. Alec wonders if it could ever be like that for him.

* * *

 _Alec was having a perfectly nice day until Jace and Izzy stormed into the living room, bickering as per usual._

" _Just go talk to her," Izzy was demanding. "It's not that hard. You've done it a million times before with a million other girls."_

" _No other girl ever...mattered before," Jace threw back, uncharacteristically distraught._

" _How do you even know that she matters? You've only exchanged a handful of words with her."_

" _I just-" Jace struggled, huffing in frustration. "I just do, okay?" Izzy looked at him like he'd grown a second head. Alec took this as his cue to interrupt._

" _Okay, what exactly is this about?" Alec asked. Jace and Izzy both turned to him and began runting, their voices twisting together._

" _Whoa," Alec interrupted. "One at a time. Jace, tell me what's going on." Izzy huffed but bit her tongue._

" _Well, there's this girl," Jace began, "and she's, well I don't know. I've only talked to her once. But I feel like, like…" Jace sighed, unable to find the right words. Izzy grumbled._

" _You're just upset because she didn't immediately swoon when she met you," she said._

" _Iz, let him talk," Alec scolded._

" _You always take his side," she mumbled, crossing her arms._

" _Iz," he warned._

" _I just need to know her," Jace confessed, looking distraught._

" _Ugh!" Izzy exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. "I'm done with this. If either of you want to have a sane conversation, I'll be in my room." And then she walked out, flipping her hair over her shoulder and pushing up her glasses in her typical drama-queen style. Alec smirked at Jace, expecting a grin in return. But Jace just looked pensive, his eyebrows scrunched together, his lips pursed. That's how Alec knew he was serious._

" _Okay," Alec said as Jace sat beside him. "Tell me about this girl."_


	4. A Better Reality

**Clary's POV was a bit trickier to incorporate because she's from another dimension at this point. I hope you enjoy what I did with it!**

* * *

Clary knows that she can't get sucked into this world entirely, but it's so hard not to just let go. In this dimension, she's normal. She's in college doing what she loves: art. And Jace is lighthearted and in love with her. Simon isn't a vampire, and he's with Isabelle, which seems to make both of them immensely happy. Even Alec is lighter, more free with who he is. This world is the exact reverse of hers: No Clave, no shadowhunting, no downworlders, no pain or suffering. Just family, friends, and peace.

But when Jace comes to talk to her, she forces herself to remember that her world needs saving. Somewhere through the dimensional portal, a different Jace is waiting for her safe return. And yet, the Jace in front of her is so real, so intoxicatingly sincere, she can't help herself. When he asks her to dance, she finds that she can't say no.

As they dance, she begins to forget herself. Her life blurs until she becomes overwhelmed by the memories of this Clary.

* * *

 _Clary was walking with Simon on a busy city street when she almost got ran over for the second time that day. Simon quickly pulled he out of the way of an oncoming car and gave the middle finger to the honking driver._

" _Sorry," Clary said, still a bit out of it. She hadn't been paying attention at all._

" _You're thinking about_ him _again, aren't you?" Simon asks, a bit of teasing in his voice. Clary is glad that they can talk casually about things like this now. Simon and she had briefly tried a relationship a few months ago, but it hadn't worked out. They decided that they worked better as best friends. Clary had worried, back when their relationship had made the awkward transition back to just friends, that it would never be the same as it had always been. But now they were great, maybe even better than before._

" _Maybe," Clary admitted. Simon was referring to the guy she had bumped into the other night outside Pandemonium. "It's stupid." Simon shook his head._

" _Nothing wrong with daydreaming about the mystery guy," Simon told her. "Totally natural. I mean, you don't even know his name, so the level of mystery is crazy heightened." Clary shrugged._

" _Doesn't matter," she said. "I'll probably never see him again." Just then, she walked into the opening door of her and Simon's cafe hangout spot. She lost her balance and suddenly someone was catching her. She looked up to thank her rescuer and saw the face of the mystery boy. She made a surprised sound in the back of her throat._

" _You!" she exclaimed without thinking. He looked even more surprised than she felt, and she was sure that she had just made a complete fool of herself. Of course he wouldn't remember some random girl he talked to for a few seconds in a dark alley way. Clary felt so stupid._

 _The boy, who had a head full of wavy blonde hair that fell in just the right way, pulled her up so that she could stand on her own. He kept his blue eyes on her the entire time, their intense focus giving her chills. He cleared his throat, and Clary snapped back to the situation in front of her._

" _Thank you," she said, her cheeks heating up._

" _It's no problem," the boy responded, those blue eyes never leaving hers. There was a moment of breathless wonder in which Clary imagined they were in their own world, just the two of them. The she heard Simon laughing._

" _Wow," he said. "I'm glad you caught her because I've already save her life twice today and three would be going for some twisted record." He laid a hand on her shoulder, and she smiled knowing that Simon meant that he was glad she was okay. The boy looked at Simon strangely, and Simon gave him a once over in return. Then his eyes lit up._

" _Hey, aren't you the guy from the alley the other night?" he asked. Clary hit him in the arm and Simon let out a surprised "Ow!" before rubbing his injury._

" _Sorry-" Clary began to say but she was cut off by the boy._

" _I am," he stated. There was an uncertain pause. "The guy from the alley, that is. I'm him."_

" _Oh," Clary said, unsure of how to proceed._

" _My name is Jace." And just like that, the mystery boy was a mystery no more._

" _Clary," she told him, holding out her hand for him to shake. He took it, looking amused. "Pleasure to meet you." He grinned, and in his eyes she saw the perfect mix of trouble and beauty._

" _The pleasure's all mine," Jace told her._

" _Would you like to join us for some coffee?" she asked him. He looked inside the cafe like it was a place he had longed to enter for an eternity._

" _I would love to."_

* * *

When Magnus comes to get Clary, she doesn't remember who he is right away. The Clary of this world has almost completely overtaken her. But once she remembers herself, it all comes flooding back. And it's suddenly so clear that this world is not her own. Though the Jace in this world resembles the Jace she knows, he's not the same. _Her_ Jace is strong and sarcastic, maybe a little broken, but he's real, and he's waiting for her to come back to him.

It's clearer than ever now that she must get back to her world.


	5. Drawn Together

Simon worries that he's losing Izzy. It's not that he thinks she doesn't love him anymore, or that she cheating on him. No, it's more like a distance between them, the kind that slowly creeps up on you. And he doesn't like it one bit.

That's why he got her the key. He knows that it won't solve anything, but maybe if they're physically closer, the emotional distance will begin to fade. He approaches Clary and Jace, now locked in a kiss, and taps on Jace's shoulder. They break apart, both looking happily dazed.

"I need to borrow your lady," Simon tells Jace. If Jace is bothered by the interruption, he doesn't show it.

"Promise you'll give her back?" he asks, stroking Clary's hair tenderly. The light in his eyes glows when he looks at her, and Simon feels a wave of gratitude towards Jace, this guy who broke into Clary's life and became her unconditional partner, who makes his best friend happier than anyone has the right to be.

"Cross my heart and hope to die," he responds, his face a mock mask of seriousness.

"Well I'll have to trust you," Jace remarks. They clap hands as Jace walks away, following it up with a snap, a sort of handshake they stumbled into using during the years since they met. Though he and Jace aren't similar in any real way, they share their love for Clary, and it has always bonded them.

Once Jace is gone, Simon takes the blue box out of his jacket and opens it to show Clary the key inside. Her face lights up.

"I'm going to ask Izzy to move in with me," he tells her, his voice a mix of excitement and nervousness. If his best friend feels any of his doubts, she surely doesn't show it. Clary just smiles brightly, the skin around her eyes crinkling with joy.

"My God, Simon, she's totally going to say yes!" Clary exclaims. He pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose, still a bit uncertain.

"You think so?" he questions. "I mean, I don't know, maybe it's a bad idea. Like a really, really bad idea. It could be a bad idea-" Calry cuts off his rambling.

"Simon," she says. Then she rears her head back and gives him a strange glare. "Look into my eyes." She uses an awful vampire accent, but he finds himself responding anyway. He remembers when they were kids and he used to come over to her house and they'd watch Dracula together as they read comics. Back then, the world seemed infinite and wondrous and even a bit magical. And though he has since ceased to see the world in such a way, he has never stopped believing in his friendship with Clary, in their eternal permanence. Sometimes he even wonders if they have known each other in a past life, or if, in some way, their souls are linked. It has always felt that way, to Simon: like they would find each other anywhere, in any time, in any version of reality.

"The Dracula stare," he remarks. "Well played." They both break out into laughter and suddenly, Simon's nerves are gone. That is Clary's affect on him, the way it has always been. "Okay, I'm good." She spins him around and he sees her, the girl of his dreams, the lovely and wicked smart Isabelle Lightwood. She's dancing some silly dance, moving her arms robotically through the air in her brilliantly blue dress, and his smile grows along with his heart as a wave of fondness crashes over him.

Clary rests her chin on his shoulder and says, "Go get 'em tiger." Then she pushes him towards his future.

* * *

 _The first time Simon met Isabelle Lightwood, he was not having a particularly good time. Clary had brought him to Jace's house because his brother Alec was hosting a small party. At this point, Jace and Clary were in their early dating phase, meaning Clary either spent her free time being with Jace, or talking to Simon about him. Earlier that week, Simon had(stupidly) complained about them not spending enough time together, so she dragged him to this party. He regretted the remark almost instantaneously, since he knew it meant that he would have to spend his Friday night at a stranger's house, third wheeling with his best friend and her unnecessarily attractive new boyfriend._

 _His prediction came true as soon as they entered the Lightwood's house and Jace grabbed Clary by the hands, leading her to the kitchen with a good natured wave towards Simon. He waved back, feeling no malice towards the blonde boy. He couldn't hold it against him or Clary, and Jace seemed to make her happy, so Simon was content enough. But now Simon was standing at the base of a white, spiral staircase, looking around at a group of unfamiliar faces. Reluctantly, he made his way towards what seemed to be the parlor of the house, sitting next to the array of instruments in the far corner of the room._

 _Their weren't many people at the house, he noticed right away. He had assumed that 'small party' was teenager code for 'bangin kegger' but there didn't even seem to be alcohol, and he had seen two adults in the other room who must have been Jace's adoptive parents. Clary had told Simon, before coming to the party, about Jace's family, how he was adopted at the age of 10 after his father was murdered by thieves as Jace slept soundly through the night, how his father had been best friends with the Lightwood's father and so they had taken him in when no one else could or would. She had told him so that he would understand Jace, so that he would not be confused by his family. Clary's voice had shaken with a deep sadness when she told him, as if she felt Jace's pain as her own. Perhaps, in some way, she did._

 _The room he sat in was empty save for a small cat in the corner opposite Simon. The cat's collar was hard to read from where he sat, but he could make out a capital_ C _at the beginning of its name. He would have gotten closer if the cat didn't look like it was deciding whether or not to kill him. Just as he was beginning to go check on Clary or get a drink, a tall, dark haired boy walked into the room, his dark eyes focused on Simon._

" _You must be Fray's bestie," the boy guessed brightly, handing Simon one of the two cups in his hands. Simon looked inside and found that it was just water. He took a sip. "I'm Alec, Jace's older brother." Simon nodded, mentally matching Alec's features to his parents'._

" _Yep, that's me," Simon responded. "Simon." Alec gave him a once over, probably mentally placing a geek label on him. Simon was wearing jeans, a Spiderman shirt and his glasses, pretty much his normal attire._

" _Well, Simon, I'm glad you could make it," Alec said, and he somehow seemed sincere. "I've been itching to meet the one guy Jace has ever been jealous of." There was a great deal of humor in Alec's eyes, but Simon could sense that there was a real protectiveness in his tone. This boy felt the need to defend his brother, unrelated by blood though they were. Simon decided to ignore the undertones of Alec's words, opting for a small chuckle._

 _Then, from behind Alec, a female voice called, "Alec, stop teasing our guest." A raven haired girl stepped into the parlor, her chocolate eyes brilliant through the lenses of her glasses. She walked with such power that Simon felt like he was in the presence of a goddess, or at least a superhero. She was that lively, like a fictional character who had walked out of her story through sheer willpower. In her eyes he saw her intelligence, saw the slight crinkle of her outer eyes and the small red mark on her nose from pushing up her glasses. The outfit she wore was a simple jeans and blouse combo, the dark blue accents accentuating her already gorgeous eyes._

" _Hi," she said, her voice melodic and commanding all at once. "I'm Isabelle Lightwood, but most people just call me Izzy." She balanced on her toes, leaning forward like a bird about to take flight. It was an unconscious gesture, the kind of mannerism that's ingrained so deeply into who she was that she didn't even notice she was doing it. But Simon noticed. He noticed everything: the way her ponytail fell on her shoulder as she talked, the slight flush of her cheeks, the delicately applied blue nail polish on her long fingers. He took her in like a blind man recovering his sight for the first time._

 _She was beautiful._

" _I'm Simon," was all he managed to say. He didn't trust himself to say more, for the fear that all of his thoughts would spill into the air between them, his mouth an unstable barrier. Izzy just smiled, he whole face lighting up with it._

" _I know," she told him with a smirk that he found both adorable and sexy at the same time. He was about to try to respond, though he had no idea what to actually say to this seemingly perfect girl in front of him, when an older, dark skinned boy came up behind Isabelle and wrapped his arms around her waist. He stuck his face into her neck as she squealed. Simon caught Alec rolling his eyes at the two as Izzy introduced the boy as Meliorn, her boyfriend._

 _Simon tried his best not to look crestfallen as they walked away. The rest of the night was spent hanging out with Alec, who turned out to be a pretty cool guy. He tried to push aside the part of him that wanted to ask about Izzy, telling himself it was stupid to feel this upset about a girl he had just met, one with whom he shared only a few words. But, even then, Simon knew no amount of inner dialogue could divert him from the truth: he was inexplicably, undeniably drawn to Isabelle Lightwood._


	6. Powerful Magic

Magnus Bane hasn't used magic in years. As he walks up to the Institute, he tries to remember the last time Shadowhunters called upon him for help. It must have been in the Golden War, when all demons were banished from their world and the Shadowhunters lost their powers. Jonathan Shadowhunter appeared to them and thanked them for their services, his reward coming in the form of normalcy. Not only did he take away their powers, but he erased all memory of them being nephilim from their minds.

Through the doors of the Institute, he finds his way to the party. As he walks, he notes that the portraits in the place have not changed. They portray brave warriors, stiff leader, and gruesome demons, though he supposes that the nephilim's descendants just see them as paintings, nothing more. The severe lining of the halls remains as well, and odd, rune-like markings still linger on the walls, their shapes indented into the wood. It has been hundreds of years, and yet this place hasn't lost its roots, it's strange magic. Magnus remembers it, even if no one else can.

Magnus can also _feel_ the magic of the place, as if it is feeding it to him. He smiles to himself as he tells the bouncer his name.

"Sorry, you're not on the list," the man says, looking bored and a bit exasperated. Fear and nervousness war inside him as he asks him to check again. But, of course, his name is still missing. Magnus looks into the party room, trying to catch a glimpse of Clary's fiery red hair, the same hair he remembers on her ancestors. But he can't find her. He is just about to give up when a tall, dark haired man comes over, rescuing him.

"What seems to be the problem?" he asks, his eyes shamelessly wracking Magnus' body. It makes Magnus surprisingly breathless, a feeling swirling in his chest. He hasn't felt an attraction like this in a very long time, especially not over the descendant of a shadowhunter. And that's what Magnus is sure that he is, this mysterious savior.

"This one wants to crash the party," the bouncer says, practically rolling his eyes towards the dark haired man. If he expects a reaction, he doesn't get it because the man's focus is solely on Magnus.

"I'll be responsible for this one," he says, waving his hand for Magnus to enter while earning an annoyed look from the bouncer. "Come on in." They then make their way into the party, the man stopping to grab two cups. He turns toward Magnus, handing him one.

"To us," he declares, and Magnus has to admire his confidence, especially for someone so young and mortal. Though this mystery man interests him, he tries not to get distracted from his original task: finding Clary. While he drinks, he searches for her, and spots her dancing with a handsome blonde man. They look quite happy and in love.

"And you are?" he hears the man next to him ask. Absentmindedly, he responds with his name, already worried about Clary losing herself in this world. He tries to imagine what it must be like to come from a world with demons and war and nephilim to world without any of it. Magnus knows it must be easy to get sucked in.

"Alec Lightwood," the man responds. Magnus should have guessed he was a Lightwood.

"Thanks but...I gotta go," he tells Alec, though a part of him wants to stay. He pushes that part down, though, because there are _so_ many reasons why he shouldn't let his heart flutter for Alec.

As he walks away, he is almost certain that he hears Alec say something about 'playing hard to get' and 'loving a challenge'. But Magnus can't think about that as he approaches Clary.

There are some things he gave up a long time ago, and love is one of them.


	7. A Cold Connection

Jace wakes up with a gigantic headache and almost no idea what happened the night before. He's in his clothes still, something he never lets happen. His first thought is that he's been drugged. But who would drug him? And besides, he doesn't even remember going to the party. It's as if his memory has been erased.

"You look like hell," he hears Alec say from the doorway of his bedroom. Jace looks at him through squinted eyes, tasting a bitter acidity on his tongue. Everything seems wrong somehow, like someone came into his life and twisted it. Jagged memories flash in the corners of his mind: a handsome man disappearing behind a hidden door with Clary; the same man locked in an intimate embrace with the love of his life on the night he had planned to propose; a scaly, impossible creature coming out of nowhere, and Clary looking at him strangely. He shakes himself into reality. It must have been a nightmare.

"What happened last night?" Jace asks as his brother hands him a coffee and sits at his desk chair. At least he's in his own room.

"You tell me," Alec responds. "One minute you were harping on about Clary avoiding you, and the next, you two were gone." Jace looks at his brother, puzzled. Alec seems anxious to say something.

"What?" Jace asks him.

"Well, how did the proposal go?"

"It...didn't," Jace tells him, because, even though he can't quite remember last night, he's sure that it didn't go as planned. Alec frowns.

"What do you mean?" Alec inquires, so Jace explains it to him. How he has no definitive recollection of the previous evening, how he has a strange feeling that someone else has been in his body, how he's never felt so disconnected from Clary.

"Jace, I think you just need to go talk to her," Alec finally says. His words remind Jace of something, an important piece of his relationship with Clary.

"Yeah," Jace responds, distracted. He gets out of bed, running over to his desk.

"You two love each other too much to let miscommunication get between you." Jace rummages through the pile of things on his messy desk, only half paying attention to his brother. "What are you looking for?" Just as he asks this, a pile of old textbooks fall from Jace's desk, revealing a bookmark suck underneath them. Jace picks it up and admires it, wondering how he almost lost it.

"This," he tells his brother. "I was looking for this."

* * *

 _It was nearly Christmas, and Clary had been in his life for months now. He was shopping with his family for presents, Isabelle frolicking among the fresh snow with Max. They were laughing joyously, and his adoptive mother, Maryse, couldn't help but join them. Hooking her arm with Jace's, she continued pestering her eldest son about college._

" _Honey, there are plenty of great schools here in New York," she was saying, Alec rolling his eyes._

" _Yes , but I want to see the world, not just this corner of it."_

" _Then study abroad," Maryse suggested, and Alec huffed, knowing he would get nowhere with his mother. Jace locked eyes with his brother and they silently agreed._

" _Mom, what should I get dad for Christmas this year?" Jace asked, placing his hand lovingly over hers on his bent elbow._

" _I think the better question is what should you get Clary," she responded. Jace had thought of this already. He had, in all honesty, been agonizing over it since early November, when the Christmas songs had just begun playing on the radio. What to get the girl he loved had been a tricky task, especially since he had yet to admit that he did, in fact, love her. He didn't quite know why, since he had known the depth of his emotions almost as soon as he met her. He was ready to tell her he loved her on the first date, but the words had gotten caught in his throat, lodged somewhere between his heart and his tongue, and had remained there ever since._

" _I already have her present," he told his mother, and she raised her eyebrows._

" _Is that so?"_

" _Yep," he responded, but refused to tell her what it was when she asked. "You'll just have to wait and see."_

 _On Christmas day, he found himself extremely nervous. The Lightwood family had invited a small number of people to join them for dinner, and Clary had just arrived. Holding his gift in his hand, he approached her._

" _Let me take that for you, my lady," he said, helping her out of her snow covered coat. Her hair sprung out of her hood, framing her delicate face like fire. Jace noticed the adorable red hue of her nose as she smiled up at him._

" _So chivalrous." He did a mock bow in front of her._

" _Why thank-you," he responded. "I've been practicing."_

" _All for little ol' me?" Clary asked, batting her eyes jokingly._

" _Of course, my lady," Jace told her, using a ridiculously regal voice. He then grabbed her pale hand and brought his lips to it. The humor faded away to true sincerity as he brought his eyes slowly back to her blushing face. "Anything for you."_

 _He then escorted her to the living room where the Christmas tree was still ablaze with multicolored lights. She looked at it, the green leaves surrounded by ribbons and decorations and discarded presents, and clenched her hands at her sides. An unconscious gesture, he had learned, that meant she wanted to draw something. It was one of the many things he loved about Clary: her ability to see the world through an artist's eyes._

" _Come sit with me," he suggested after a brief moment of letting her living inside her own mind. His voice broke her out of her reverie, and she smiled at him, turning away from the tree and sitting cross legged, opposite to him on the carpet next to the fireplace. He was glad she no longer felt the need to apologize for losing herself in the beauty of the world. It meant she was comfortable with him._

" _Alright, I get to go first," she stated, pulling something out of her pocket. "It's a personalized bookmark." Jace looked closer and saw Clary's art drawn all over it, tangling with some of his favorite quotes in her handwriting. Each quote was woven into depictions of book covers and scenes. His heart swelled knowing that Clary understood his passions, his desires. He picked it up out of her hands and felt its laminated surface._

" _Clary…" he begun, unable to form the correct words._

" _Do you like it?" she asked, looking at him with vulnerable eyes. "I wanted to put more on it, like your favorite book characters, but there wasn't enough room."_

" _Clary, this is amazing," he told her. She smiled, bright and warm. He forgot, momentarily, that he had his own present to give. But then he remembered himself and his nerves came back to him. Putting his new bookmark aside, he picked up his gift and gave it to her. It was in a small, wrapped box with a bow on top. The bow was Izzy's idea, of course, as he eagerly told Clary. He waited as she opened it, her eyes finally lighting up at the sight of the necklace._

" _Jace," she whispered, delicately taking it out of the box. He had it made specially for her. It had cost him a fortune, but it had been worth it to see her face. The necklace was a cool silver, the medallion a light catching, watercolor heart. But there was more to it than what the eye could see._

" _Open it," he told her, and she did. Immediately, the sound of a piano playing filled the room, the melody flowing and rich. "I recorded myself." He remembered playing for her for the first time, how nervous he was, and Jace didn't get nervous. He had been playing since he was a child. His father had taught him, and Jace clung on to it after his father's death. She had told him, afterwards, that she wished she could fall asleep to the sound of his playing every night so it would feel like he was there with her. He knew, then, that his future was full of her. Any imagining of his life had her in it, and each night he would play her to sleep._

"' _As long as I can dream, I'll dream of you'," Clary read aloud from the words engraved on the inside of the necklace, her voice harmonizing with the sounds of his piano. She closed the clasp and held the jewelry in her clenched fist against her heart. "I love it."_

" _I love you," Jace breathed, the words tumbling out of his mouth before he could stop them. There was no fear in him anymore, no worry. The words just had to be said and so he said them. Clary gazed at him for a moment before leaning over and meeting his lips with hers. He put his arms on her waist as she leaned into him, her hands cupping his face. Slowly, she pulled back, the medal of the necklace in her hand scraping along his jawline._

" _I love you, too," she whispered. "I love you so much." She was smiling, her eyes watery, and he let out a breathy, incredulous laugh. She kissed him again, and this time he pulled her into his lap and stroked the middle of her back. Clary ran her hands through his hair, her lips still smiling against his mouth. He was smiling, too, lost in the feeling of their bodies intertwined. Jace knew he could have stayed like that forever. After a while of this, though, they had to come back to reality._

 _Jace pulled back and said, "We should probably join the dinner party." With mischievous eyes, Clary nestled into the crook of his neck, kissing the skin there._

" _Do we have to?" she asked, her lips traveling up to his ear._

 _With great effort, Jace managed to say, "Unfortunately, yes." Clary huffed but obliged, getting up from his lap and reaching a hand out to help him up. He took it and kissed her once before intertwining their fingers. While doing this, he felt that familiar medal sting against his fingertips._

" _Clary," he said, and she looked down at the necklace._

" _Put it on for me?" she asked. He nodded and did as she requested. When he had gotten the clasp on, she turned to face him, her red hair whipping around her like a glowing halo. She was an angel. "How do I look?"_

" _Beautiful," he told her, and he meant it more than anything else he'd ever said._


End file.
